“Even if U.S. adopts resolution pressing Turkey to return Christian churches, Ankara would consider it interference in its inferior,” said Ruben Safrastyan , Director of the Oriental Studies Institute at Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

The Return of Churches resolution, spearheaded by senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member Ed Royce (R-CA) and the panel's Ranking Democrat Howard Berman (D-CA), calls upon the government of Turkey to honor its international obligations end all forms of religious persecution and to protect the rights and religious freedoms of Christians. The measure specifically calls upon Turkey to return confiscated Christian church properties to Armenian, Greeks, Assyrians, and other Christian communities.

Safrastyan thinks after passing the resolution Turkish people will understand that all this time they lived on Christian soil.

“Both Turkey and U.S. understand that this is a game they are playing at. In this issue Turkey will not loose anything, since presently the role of Turkey at Middle East is the most significant for U.S.,” professor told a press conference.

On July 21, with a vote of 43 to 1, the House Foreign Affairs Committee today overwhelmingly adopted the Berman-Cicilline Amendment, pressing Turkey to return stolen Christian churches and to end its repression of its Christian minority.